Journal Article

Invisible Work of Telephone Operators: An Ethnocritical Analysis

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Date

1999, 1999

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Volume Title

Source

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 8, No. 1-2

Publisher

Springer

Abstract

This paper applies principles derived from ethnocriticism to help explain differential outcomes with different methods used to analyze the work of Directory Assistance telephone operators in a large US telecommunications company. The work of Directory Assistance operators provides a subtle case of computer-supported cooperative work. Collaborative work between operator and customer is supported and shaped by digitized-voice and database technologies. Our work also involved the introduction of additional voice-recognition technologies to this human-to-human collaboration. In a previous paper, we used methods from participatory design to show that knowledge work is a major component of the operators' conversations with customers. By contrast, other research using formal cognitive task analyses had described operators' work as routine and as involving no active problem solving. How had evidence that we had found so compelling been invisible to other analysts? I analyze the concept of “invisible work” as an attribute not of the work, but rather of the perspectives from which that work appeared to be invisible. Ethnocritical heuristics help us to contrast the analytical methods and their outcomes.

Description

Muller, Michael J. (1999): Invisible Work of Telephone Operators: An Ethnocritical Analysis. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 8, No. 1-2. DOI: 10.1023/A:1008603223106. Springer. PISSN: 1573-7551. pp. 31-61

Keywords

CARD, ethnocritical heuristics, ethnocriticism, GOMS, invisible work, knowledge work, participatory analysis, task analysis, telephone operators, work analysis

Citation

DOI

10.1023/A:1008603223106

URI

URI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1008603223106
 https://dl.eusset.eu/handle/20.500.12015/3551

Collections

JCSCW Vol. 08 (1999)

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Referenced By

Number of citations to item: 31

  • Yong Ming Kow, Waikuen Cheng (2018): Complimenting Invisible Work, In: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction CSCW(2), doi:10.1145/3274365
  • Tuija Kautto, Pekka Henttonen (2020): Records management as invisible work: A study of Finnish municipalities, In: Government Information Quarterly 4(37), doi:10.1016/j.giq.2020.101460
  • Marius Koller, Sebastian Felix Rauh, Gerrit Meixner, Anders Lundström, Cristian Bogdan (2020): Designing for Orchestration in Mixed and Virtual Reality: Challenges and Best Practices, In: Proceedings of the 11th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Shaping Experiences, Shaping Society, doi:10.1145/3419249.3420080
  • EunJeong Cheon, Shengyang Xu (2024): Creative Precarity in Motion: Revealing the Hidden Labor Behind Animating Virtual Characters, In: Designing Interactive Systems Conference, doi:10.1145/3643834.3661545
  • Michael J. Muller, David R. Milien, Jonathan Feinberg (2009): Information Curators in an Enterprise File-Sharing Service, In: ECSCW 2009, doi:10.1007/978-1-84882-854-4_23
  • Shelley Evenson, Michael Muller, Emilie M. Roth (2008): Capturing the Context of Use to Inform System Design, In: Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making 3(2), doi:10.1518/155534308x377072
  • M. Steehouder, D. Hartman (2003): How can I help you? User instructions in telephone calls, In: IEEE International Professional Communication Conference, 2003. IPCC 2003. Proceedings., doi:10.1109/ipcc.2003.1245484
  • Amanda Lazar, Hilaire J. Thompson, Shih-Yin Lin, George Demiris (2018): Negotiating Relation Work with Telehealth Home Care Companionship Technologies that Support Aging in Place, In: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction CSCW(2), doi:10.1145/3274372
  • John R. Goodall, Wayne G. Lutters, Anita Komlodi (2009): Developing expertise for network intrusion detection, In: Information Technology & People 2(22), doi:10.1108/09593840910962186
  • Georges Toulouse, Louise St-Arnaud, Renée Bourbonnais, Alain Delisle, Denise Chicoine (2009): Troubles musculo-squelettiques chez les téléopérateurs des centres d’urgence 911, des contraintes physiques aux contraintes psychosociales, In: Perspectives interdisciplinaires sur le travail et la santé 11-2, doi:10.4000/pistes.2441
  • Michael J. Muller, Kenneth Carey (2002): Design as a minority discipline in a software company, In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, doi:10.1145/503376.503445
  • Clay Spinuzzi (2005): Lost in the Translation: Shifting Claims in the Migration of a Research Technique, In: Technical Communication Quarterly 4(14), doi:10.1207/s15427625tcq1404_3
  • Claus Bossen, Lotte Groth Jensen, Flemming Witt Udsen (2013): Boundary-Object Trimming: On the Invisibility of Medical Secretaries’ Care of Records in Healthcare Infrastructures, In: Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) 1(23), doi:10.1007/s10606-013-9195-5
  • Clay Spinuzzi (2002): A Scandinavian challenge, a US response, In: Proceedings of the 20th annual international conference on Computer documentation, doi:10.1145/584955.584986
  • Kim M Unertl, Laurie L Novak, Kevin B Johnson, Nancy M Lorenzi (2010): Traversing the many paths of workflow research: developing a conceptual framework of workflow terminology through a systematic literature review, In: Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 3(17), doi:10.1136/jamia.2010.004333
  • Frédéric Kletz, Olivier Marcellin (2019): L’innovation avec le patient : un renouvellement par le design organisationnel, In: Innovations 3(N° 60), doi:10.3917/inno.pr2.0069
  • Jazette Johnson, Vitica Arnold, Anne Marie Piper, Gillian R. Hayes (2022): "It's a lonely disease": Cultivating Online Spaces for Social Support among People Living with Dementia and Dementia Caregivers, In: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction CSCW2(6), doi:10.1145/3555133
  • Linett Simonsen, Tina Steinstø, Guri Verne, Tone Bratteteig (2020): “I’m Disabled and Married to a Foreign Single Mother”. Public Service Chatbot’s Advice on Citizens’ Complex Lives, In: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-58141-1_11
  • Kiersten F. Latham (2007): The Invisibility of Collections Care Work, In: Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals 1(3), doi:10.1177/155019060700300107
  • Timothy R. Amidon, Elizabeth A. Williams, Tiffany Lipsey, Randy Callahan, Gary Nuckols, Spencer Rice (2018): Sensors and gizmos and data, oh my, In: Communication Design Quarterly 4(5), doi:10.1145/3188387.3188389
  • Kimberly A. Weaver, Hannes Baumann, Thad Starner, Hendrick Iben, Michael Lawo (2010): An empirical task analysis of warehouse order picking using head-mounted displays, In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, doi:10.1145/1753326.1753580
  • Johanna Tovar (2021): Call center agents’ skills, In: Sociolinguistic Studies 4(14), doi:10.1558/sols.39555
  • JOHN MCCARTHY (2000): The paradox of understanding work for design, In: International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 1(53), doi:10.1006/ijhc.2000.0371
  • Naja L. Holten Møller, Signe Vikkelsø (2012): The Clinical Work of Secretaries: Exploring the Intersection of Administrative and Clinical Work in the Diagnosing Process, In: From Research to Practice in the Design of Cooperative Systems: Results and Open Challenges, doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-4093-1_3
  • Johanna Woydack (2018): Standardization and Agency Intertwined, In: Linguistic Ethnography of a Multilingual Call Center, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93323-8_6
  • Michael J. Muller (2001): Layered participatory analysis, In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, doi:10.1145/365024.365054
  • Claus Bossen, Lotte Groth Jensen, Flemming Witt (2012): Medical secretaries' care of records, In: Proceedings of the ACM 2012 conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, doi:10.1145/2145204.2145341
  • Ethan S. Bernstein (2017): Making Transparency Transparent: The Evolution of Observation in Management Theory, In: Academy of Management Annals 1(11), doi:10.5465/annals.2014.0076
  • Susanne Maass, Els Rommes (2000): Uncovering the Invisible: Gender-Sensitive Analysis of Call Center Work and Software, In: Gender Designs IT, doi:10.1007/978-3-531-90295-1_6
  • Zhang Keyu (2024): Invisible and Replaced: The Female Ghost Workers in the History of Information Technology From the Perspective of Media Archaeology, In: Emerging Media 4(2), doi:10.1177/27523543241298252
  • Davina Allen (2016): The importance, challenges and prospects of taking work practices into account for healthcare quality improvement, In: Journal of Health Organization and Management 4(30), doi:10.1108/jhom-04-2014-0062
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